Lockheed Blackbird Family: A-12, YF-12, D-21/M-21 & SR-71 Photo Scrapbook

Lockheed Blackbird Family: A-12, YF-12, D-21/M-21 & SR-71 Photo Scrapbook

Still the world’s most popular and most exciting aircraft, the Lockheed family of A-12, YF-12, D-21/M-21, and SR-71 Blackbirds are to this day the highest-performance jet-powered airplanes ever flown. They have set numerous world speed and altitude records for manned aircraft powered by air-breathing engines that theoretically may never be broken. Although no longer operational, A-12s and SR-71s flew for nearly three decades at speeds in excess of Mach 3 and altitudes of up to 90,000 feet. Expanding on the successful sales of all Specialty Press Blackbird publications is this natural extension of the product line created by compiling many never-before-published photos coupled with new de-classified information recently released by the CIA, including black-and-white photos of A-12 cockpits, early camera installations, and never-before-seen special camouflage schemes. The photos in this edition are black and white.

Lockheed Blackbirds – Warbird Tech Volume 10

Lockheed Blackbirds – Warbird Tech Volume 10

On 26 April 1962, Lockheed test pilot Lou Schalk took the first flight in an aircraft at a classified desert test facility in Nevada. The aircraft was far more advanced than anything in the sky, and when made public several years later it would capture the world’s fascination like few other aircraft ever have. Three distinct variants were eventually manufactured, but surprisingly, none of them ever had an official name. Unofficially, they have all been referred to as “Blackbirds” and “Habu,” the fastest, highest flying air-breathing aircraft in the world. The Lockheed model number of the first variant was A-12, but by a sort of inspired perversity it came to be called Oxcart, a code name also applied to the program under which it was developed. The other two variants carried the Air Force designations YF-12 and SR-71. This is the story of the Lockheed Blackbirds – fifty of the fastest, highest-flying air-breathing aircraft ever developed and deployed. This book is crammed with detailed photos and illustrations and is a fantastic resource for scale model builders. Photos in this edition are black and white.

Before They Were the Black Sheep

Before They Were the Black Sheep

Marine Fighting Squadron VMF-214 and the Battle for the Solomon Islands
Wartime letters of a New Englander’s journey from innocence to elite fighter squadron pilot “A must-read for young Navy and Marine Corps officers as they enter aviation training.”—Lt. Gen. Robert F. Milligan, U.S. Marine Corps (retired) “An intriguing look at Marine aviation in World War II by a sensitive and intelligent pilot; few narratives provide as much insight into the intensely personal feelings of a pilot in combat.”—Walter Boyne, author of The Influence of Air Power upon History  “Offers a compelling look into the world of a young man who left the comfort of civilian life to become a pilot in one of the best known combat fighter squadrons of the Pacific War. Lt. Carl O. Dunbar Jr.’s letters home remind us of the personal side of the Second World War.”—Michael H. Creswell, author of A Question of Balance Before the Marine Fighting Squadron VMF-214 became known as the Black Sheep squadron led by “Pappy” Boyington, this air group was already flying missions from Guadalcanal. Commissioned in 1942, the squadron was originally known as “The Swashbucklers.”
Lt. Carl Dunbar was one of the squadron’s original pilots, and his letters home describe the training and living conditions he faced as a Marine in the Pacific theater during the early years of World War II. Dunbar ultimately flew eighty-two missions during the Solomon campaign, and this volume includes his private logbook.
Like many veterans, after returning to the United States Dunbar rarely spoke about his wartime service. Only after his death did his son Peter discover this trove of material, and his commentary provides context for each of his father’s letters. Both personal and universal, this volume offers a glimpse of what life was like for a man with a great sense of loyalty and compassion caught up in the war of his generation. Peter M. Dunbar is a lawyer and partner with the Tallahassee-based firm of Pennington, Moore, Wilkinson, Bell and Dunbar and serves as an adjunct professor of law at Florida State University.
Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird: 1964 onwards (all marks) (Owners’ Workshop Manual)

Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird: 1964 onwards (all marks) (Owners’ Workshop Manual)

SOLD OUT

Throughout its 34-year Cold War career with the USAF and CIA, the top secret Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird spy plane was the world’s fastest and highest-flying operational manned aircraft. Dedicated to strategic reconnaissance, the Blackbird was so fast that no other aircraft could catch it. The co-authors are world authorities on the Blackbird and give rare insights into the secret world of the SR-71, its genesis, construction and anatomy (including its use of stealth technology), and its operation and maintenance in peace and war.

SR-71 Blackbird – Stories, Tales and Legends

SR-71 Blackbird – Stories, Tales and Legends

Black Noon: The Year They Stopped the Indy 500

Black Noon: The Year They Stopped the Indy 500

Hard cover out of print Soft Cover available here

Winner of the 2014 Dean Batchelor Award, Motor Press Guild “Book of the Year”

Short-listed for 2015 PEN / ESPN Literary Award for Sports Writing

Before noon on May 30th, 1964, the Indy 500 was stopped for the first time in history by an accident. Seven cars had crashed in a fiery wreck, killing two drivers, and threatening the very future of the 500.

Black Noon chronicles one of the darkest and most important days in auto-racing history. As rookie Dave MacDonald came out of the fourth turn and onto the front stretch at the end of the second lap, he found his rear-engine car lifted by the turbulence kicked up from two cars he was attempting to pass. With limited steering input, MacDonald lost control of his car and careened off the inside wall of the track, exploding into a huge fireball and sliding back into oncoming traffic.

Closing fast was affable fan favorite Eddie Sachs. “The Clown Prince of Racing” hit MacDonald’s sliding car broadside, setting off a second explosion that killed Sachs instantly. MacDonald, pulled from the wreckage, died two hours later.

After the track was cleared and the race restarted, it was legend A. J. Foyt who raced to a decisive, if hollow, victory. Torn between elation and horror, Foyt, along with others, championed stricter safety regulations, including mandatory pit stops, limiting the amount a fuel a car could carry, and minimum-weight standards.

In this tight, fast-paced narrative, Art Garner brings to life the bygone era when drivers lived hard, raced hard, and at times died hard. Drawing from interviews, Garner expertly reconstructs the fateful events and decisions leading up to the sport’s blackest day, and the incriminating aftermath that forever altered the sport.

Black Noon remembers the race that changed everything and the men that paved the way for the Golden Age of Indy car racing.

The Complete Book of the SR-71 Blackbird: The Illustrated Profile of Every Aircraft, Crew, and Breakthrough of the World’s Fastest Stealth Jet

The Complete Book of the SR-71 Blackbird: The Illustrated Profile of Every Aircraft, Crew, and Breakthrough of the World’s Fastest Stealth Jet

The ultimate SR-71 book which profiles the history, development, manufacture, modification, and active service of all 50 models in the SR-71 program.

At the height of the Cold War in 1964, President Johnson announced a new aircraft dedicated to strategic reconnaissance. The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird spy plane flew more than three-and-a-half times the speed of sound–so fast that no other aircraft could catch it. Above 80,000 feet, its pilots had to wear full-pressure flight suits similar to what was used aboard the space shuttle.

Developed by the renowned Lockheed Skunk Works, the SR-71 was an awesome aircraft in every respect. It was withdrawn from use in 1998, when it was superseded by satellite technology. Twelve of the thirty-two aircraft were destroyed in accidents, but none were ever lost to enemy action.

Throughout its thirty-four-year career, the SR-71 was the world’s fastest and highest-flying operational manned aircraft. It set world records for altitude and speed: an absolute altitude record of 85,069 feet and an absolute speed record of 2,193.2 miles per hour.

The Complete Book of the SR-71 Blackbird covers every aspect of the SR-71’s development, manufacture, modification, and active service from the insider’s perspective of one of its pilots and is lavishly illustrated with more than 400 photos. Former pilot and author Richard Graham also examines each of the fifty planes that came out the SR-71 program (fifteen A-12s; three YF-12s; and thirty-two SR-71s) and tells each plane’s history, its unique specifications, and where each currently resides.

Jaguar Cars: A Pictorial History 1946 to 2007

Jaguar Cars: A Pictorial History 1946 to 2007

The Master Driver of The World: The 1914 Cactus Derby

The Master Driver of The World: The 1914 Cactus Derby

Late in his auto racing career, an aging Barney Oldfield knows his legacy is at stake. Will he be remembered as a champion or a huckster? His critics demean him for making a mockery of his sport with staged races and stunts like racing airplanes. At one point banished from the official sanction of the American Automobile Association for racing Jack Johnson, the black boxing champion, Oldfield feels the eastern establishment is determined to destroy his livelihood. His antics are wildly lucrative and surpass their championship races. He threatens their preeminence in American auto racing.

Oldfield embarks on a campaign to prove his mettle, with great success. The top American racer in the 1914 Indianapolis 500, he sets his sights on earning “The Master Driver of the World” title for the Phoenix-to-Los Angeles road race. By some measures, this is the most treacherous course on the planet. Before him lies 728 miles of car-busting terrain fit for little more than cactus and rattlesnakes. In this race, a driver carved his own road and endured steep mountain passages in the face of freezing rain, hail, and floods. Oldfield wrestles with internal demons, cultural change, and how he can’t change the world.

Apex The Inside Story of the Hillman Imp

Apex The Inside Story of the Hillman Imp

Fully updated, with new pictures and loads of new information.
Apex, the original book of the Imp, has been completely reworked by David & Peter Henshaw. Telling the full story from the first prototype in 1955, to the end of Imp production, and what’s happened since.
New 2023 Edition includes:
*New chapter – the Imp since the 1970s
*89 black & white photos, plus 145 in colour, mostly new
*Rare Prototypes  – Gillie, Asp, Swallow etc.
*Imp Club celebrations of 40th, 50th & 60th Anniversaries
*Racing, Spares, BMW Conversion
*Plus the full Imp story: Slug to Apex; the Linwood story; Mk1; Mk2; all the variants; Mk3 to the end